


Weekends with Daisy

by wahrsagehund



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Conversations, F/M, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Father-Daughter Relationship, Post-Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 14:38:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3899953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wahrsagehund/pseuds/wahrsagehund
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On their third weekend together after he left Broadchurch, Alec Hardy finally manages to have a real conversation with his daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weekends with Daisy

It’s their third weekend together since he left Broadchurch and winter is slowly starting to creep closer. After hours of dancing around each other, they have finally managed to settle into something resembling a routine. Yet, although the majority of the awkwardness has faded, Alec can’t help but marvel at how much his little girl has grown up. It’s not just the occasional swearing which still makes him tense up slightly. There is a whole new range of behaviour that continues to puzzle him. She takes hours in the bathroom doing who-knows-what and is grumpy to be woken up at what she calls an indecent hour and he calls 10 in the morning. Most of all, though, she has become quite secretive. Again and again he has tried to extract information out of her but he keeps getting monosyllabic answers. “How is school?” “Fine.” “How is Emma doing?” “Good.” “Don’t you like ballet anymore?” “Geez, Dad.” In hindsight, he thinks wryly, extracting information out of Claire Ashworth might have been easier than having an actual conversation with his daughter. He stares into his tea mug. Miller would have a laugh if she could see him now. He can sort of see the irony of it, but for once, he is actually desperate for a proper conversation and Daisy is giving him the “Hardy” treatment. It’s frustrating at best.

He checks his watch. It’s half 10 and Daisy has already spent 28 minutes in the bathroom. If she doesn’t grace the breakfast table with her presence soon, yet another opportunity for a proper chat is out of the window. Tess is picking Daisy up in an hour and they have yet to make plans for their next weekend together. Between school, drama group, hockey and a large circle of friends, Daisy hardly has any time for him and it doesn’t feel right to take her away from the life she has built without him.

Suddenly, the sound of the bathroom door opening and a shuffle of footsteps interrupts his train of thoughts. Daisy has joined him at last. 

He gives her a smile. “Morning, darling. Did you sleep well?”

She sits down opposite him and yawns in reply. “Why do always have to wake me at the brink of dawn?”

He snorts. “It’s half 10! I’ve been up for 3 hours. And besides, your mother is picking you up soon and I thought you might like some breakfast before you’re off.”

Daisy chuckles. “Geez, Dad, no need to get so worked up, I was only kidding.” She looks around the table. “So what’s there for breakfast?”

“There’s some porridge on the stove. Or I could make you some eggs, if you want to.”

Daisy pulls a face. “I think I’ve had enough of your eggs for a weekend. No offense, Dad, but your cooking hasn’t really improved much. I’m good with toast and jam.”

He considers retorting for a moment but decides to drop it. She’s right, anyways. He never was a good cook and breakfast has definitely always been Tess’ domain. 

“Is there any coffee?”

“Are you even old enough for coffee?”

“Seriously, Dad? Are we having this discussion again?” Her exasperation is almost endearing but this time he’s not giving in.

“I forgot to buy some. Sorry, darling.”

She shoots him a look which clearly reveals just convincing she finds his poor excuse of late parenting. “Fine.” She pours herself a glass of orange juice instead and gets up to pop two slices of toast into the toaster. 

Alec uses the ensuing silence to plot his next move. There has to be a way of getting her answer any of his questions. Maybe, if she doesn’t realise what he’s actually asking…he sighs. She’s her mother’s daughter after all and while he has never been good at subtlety, she has always been too smart to fall for his poor attempts of coercing information out of her. 

Her voice suddenly pulls him out of his miserable attempt of scheming. “Dad. Why did you leave?” She is still facing the toaster and her back is turned to him but he can sense the urgency in her voice. 

“Darling…”He is lost for words, because she can’t know the truth and doesn’t deserve a lame excuse.

She turns around and looks straight at him. “Please, you’ve got to be honest with me.”

“I am being honest with you, darling. But it’s not that easy to explain. You see, your mum and I…we were having some issues. But it was never about you. You can’t think that for a minute.” He looks at her imploringly.

Daisy swallows audibly. “Was it because…because of Dave?”

This knocks the air out of him. “Dave? What are you talking about?”

She gives him a look. “Dad. I’m not stupid and I’m not a baby anymore. I can put two and two together. One day, you just move out completely out of the blue and Mum only seems relieved? And suddenly, her friend Dave from work starts calling at the house at odd hours.” Daisy snorts. “Please, give me some bloody credit. I’m the daughter of two detectives.”

Alec looks at her weakly. “So, all this time… you knew?”

Daisy nods.

The implications of this threatens to overcome him and he’s trying hard to keep his cool.  
“Why on earth didn’t you say anything?”

Daisy seems to be searching for the right words. “Because…I knew that you wanted to protect me. And I didn’t want to take that away from you. Not after everything that had happened at work…and with Mum.”

Alec is speechless. All this time, he has been convinced that he had done the right thing for his daughter. He had taken the insults, the sneers from Karen White, the shaming of the press and the loss of his reputation and he had gladly done so to keep Daisy from harm. To be strong for her at all cost. And now, she’s proven to be the strongest one yet. What has happened to the little girl who was so afraid of the monster underneath her bed that she wouldn’t go to sleep without either of her parents sitting next to her? He swallows hard. His little girl has grown up.

Daisy is still looking at him hesitantly. “Dad. Say something.”

In one swift move, he gets up, crosses the distance between the counter and the table and pulls her into a hug. She is startled at first, but soon responds to his embrace. 

After a wee while, she twitches as if to extract herself from his embrace. “Dad.” He doesn’t budge. “Dad.” “Give your old man a soppy moment, darling.” She chuckles. “I don’t want to ruin your moment, dad, but my toast is getting cold and I’m starving.”

He lets go of her but keeps standing next to her at the counter instead of returning to his chair at the table. Daisy is busy spreading butter on her toast.

“Does your mum know about this?”

She shakes her head. “Please don’t tell her I know. I don’t want to have to talk to her about this and she’s difficult enough as it is.”

Alec is fighting hard to suppress a grin at this. “Difficult” is most probably the term Tess uses most often to describe Daisy nowadays. Yet, the little moment of seeing the amusing side of the whole situation is swiftly overtaken by a sense of sadness on the one side and awe on the other.

“So, all this time…you were going through this on your own?”

Daisy, who has started eating her toast, halts for a moment and swallows before she replies.

“No. I sort of had to tell someone so I told Ruby and Emma. I hope that’s alright?”

“Oh darling, of course that’s alright. You have absolutely nothing to apologise for. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. I shouldn’t have moved away like that and I promise I won’t do that again.”

Daisy has put down her plate and moves to face him. 

“And I’m sorry about being mad at you for leaving. I understand now why you had to go away from me and away from mum. But I didn’t then and I should have answered your calls and called you back. It wasn’t right to be mad at you for giving up like that. I didn’t understand why you would keep fighting for Pippa’s family but give up fighting for ours.” She swallows hard as if to fight back tears she doesn’t want to show him. His little girl is trying very hard to be strong and it breaks his heart. She shouldn’t have to go through all of this. They were supposed to protect her from this. He was supposed to protect her from this.

He puts his arm around her, draws her to his side and kisses the top of her head. He’s still searching for words when Daisy speaks up again.

“But I can see that Mum is happier now and you are, too, Dad, aren’t you?” She looks up at him questioningly.

He sighs. “Your mum and I haven’t been right for each other in quite a long time. I didn’t want to see it at first, but I wasn’t there for her when she needed me and I don’t think she has ever quite been able to forgive me for that.” 

Daisy nods. 

“But I want you know that even though your mum and I have fallen out of love with each other, this will never ever affect how much we love you.”

“Geez, Dad, I know, no need to be so sappy.” The teenager in Daisy has returned at last. She extracts herself from his side hug, picks up her plate again and finishes her toast in a few bites. 

“I need to go and pack my stuff. Mum will be here in 15 minutes.”

Alec checks his watch. He is reluctant to let her go now, when they have finally started talking. Daisy has already disappeared from the kitchen and he hears her rummaging through her room. There is so much he still needs to tell her but it will have to wait for his next weekend with her.

A few minutes later, Daisy re-emerges from her room with a small suitcase in tow and a small rucksack slung over one shoulder. 

“Right. So when will I see you again?”

Daisy sets down her rucksack at the table and takes out her phone.

“Okay, so next weekend, I’ve got rehearsals for the school play. And the weekend after that, Helen is celebrating her birthday. And the weekend after, Emma’s mum promised to take us shopping. And there’s a hockey tournament after that and…” She gives him an excusing smile.

He sighs. “No time for your old dad in that busy schedule of yours, hmm? Aren’t you the social butterfly?”

She pulls a face. “Just because you are such a loner doesn’t mean nobody else shouldn’t have friends either.”

He protests at this. “I’ve got friends!”

She snorts. “Really. Like who?”

“Like….like your uncle Alistair. He’s my friend.”

She gives him a disbelieving look. “That’s the best you can come up with? He doesn’t count. You’ve known him for so long, he’s almost family.”

Alec protests but he knows he’s fighting a lost cause. He doesn’t know why it suddenly matters to him to prove to his daughter that he is, in fact, not entirely antisocial but he’s wracking his brains quite hard. Until the lone orange in the fruit bowl on the table catches his eye.

“Miller is my friend.”

Daisy looks curious at this. “Ellie Miller? The woman you worked with at Broadchurch?”

He nods. 

“So, she’s your friend?”

“I suppose so.”

Daisy seems unconvinced. “So you actually do stuff as friends together?”

“Like what?” He is quite certain that Daisy wouldn’t count solving a murder together as a social outing but the alternatives are rather thinly spread. The memory of their disaster of a Sandbrook trip which lead to a very awkward night of sharing a hotel bed right after they had been accused of having an affair makes him cringe internally. He is definitely not mentioning that.

“Like having dinner? How am I supposed to know how adult friendships work?” Apparently, being the daughter of two detectives has turned Daisy into quite a skilled interrogator.  
He’s glad for the suggestion. “Yeah, that.” And he has been round to Miller’s for dinner, so it’s not exactly a lie.

He is slightly hopeful that she might leave it at that, but she pushes on. 

“And where is she now?”

“She’s in Broadchurch with her two boys.” He’s bracing himself for the question that’s likely to follow. How old was the little one again? It took him months to even remember his name and he’s fairly certain that not knowing things like that will reflect badly on the point he is trying to prove.

But Daisy is following a different line of questioning. “So when was the last time you talked to her?”

He murmurs some unintelligible and hopes that she will finally let it go. Unfortunately, she is his daughter and definitely at least as obstinate.

“Come on, Dad…Be honest.”

He sighs. She is not going to like his answer. “The day I left Broadchurch?”

Daisy’s tone is disbelieving. “But that was months ago! And you are seriously trying to tell me you’re friends? Emma and I talk every day.”

“It doesn’t work like that.”

She doesn’t allow him the easy way out. “How does it not? Aren’t you supposed to know what’s going on in a friend’s life?”

“She’s got enough on her plate.” He knows it’s a lame excuse the moment he says it.

Daisy is unfazed. Suddenly, an idea seems to occur to her and she’s smiling broadly. “You should call her.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He’s a grown up human being, for god’s sake, he doesn’t need his daughter to tell him what to do.

But she doesn’t give up that easily. “Come on, Dad. Otherwise you have to admit that you are antisocial.”

He sighs. “Fine. I am.”

She shoots him a curious glance. “So you’d rather admit that than call her?”

“Maybe, we’ll just let it go, darling, alright?” His tone is a little sharper than he intended but he really doesn’t fancy spending any more time on the subject.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings and Daisy backs off. “Ok, ok, I’ll let it go for now. But you’re not off the hook all that easily. Next time, you’ll better have a good answer.”

“Answer to what?” He has opened the door to Tess in a rather desperate attempt to distract Daisy with the arrival of her mother and she has just caught the last bit of her daughter’s statement.

“It’s nothing”, he murmurs. 

Tess gives him a curious look but doesn’t press the point. “Alright, sweetheart, are you ready to go?”

Daisy nods and hands over her suitcase to her mother. Then she gives her dad a hug and follows her mother down the stairs. 

He’s not yet used to seeing her walk away from him and it tugs at his heart every time he sees her go. With quite some effort, he manages to force his lips into a smile and keep his tone light.

“Bye, darling. I’ll see you soon. And I’ll call you.”

“Bye, Dad.” At the bottom of the stairs, Tess turns around and gives him a small wave.

As he watches his daughter disappear through the front door loneliness washes over him and he can’t help but wonder how Miller is doing.  
Maybe Daisy was right after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't really planning on writing this since I've actually collected ideas for a rather longer fic centered on Tess before Sandbrook but somehow it just popped up in my head and I had write it. I really didn't expect it to turn out like this....I guess that happens if you are locked up studying something as pointless as educational science for weeks.
> 
> Comments are much appreciated. :)


End file.
